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Abandoned
tack and horses is a fairly common problem for
boarding facilities. Many boarding stable owners
try to prevent this problem by specifying in their
boarding contracts that items left behind at the end
of the boarding term will be stored for a fixed period
of time (e.g., 90 days) at the boarder’s expense.
To avoid confusion, the contract should also state
that after 90 days, the left-behind items will become
the property of the boarding stable.
If
your boarding contract does not currently address this
situation, and you have left-behind equipment
occupying valuable space, you may wish to send the
property owner(s) a letter stating that you believe
they are the owners of certain items (list the items)
on your property and that if they do not remove those
items by a certain date (e.g., two weeks), you will
begin charging them a specified monthly storage fee
(e.g., $100) until the items are removed. The
letter should also specify that if the items are not
removed within a specified period of time, they will
become the property of the boarding stable. To
minimize the possibility that the former boarders
could claim they didn’t receive the letter, you
should send the letter via a method that provides for
proof of delivery, such as Federal Express.
If
you dispose of a former boarder’s possessions
without following the above steps, the former boarder
may have a legal claim for “conversion” against
you, and the amount of potential damages would be the
value of their property. In essence,
“conversion” occurs when one party who has been
entrusted with the care of an item takes that item and
treats it as his or her own. Even though you may
not have specifically assumed any responsibility for
the former boarder’s items, the former boarder might
have a reasonable expectation that they could leave
items at your facility for a short transition period.
Accordingly, it is advisable for boarding stables to
have a documented process for dealing with left-behind
items belonging to former boarders, and to follow that
process. For more information, contact
ELS.
Additional
Information:
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